My father was born in Wisconsin in 1959. Back then the two United States Senators from Wisconsin were Republican Alexander Wiley, and Democrat William Proxmire. In 1962, Democratic Gov. Gaylord Nelson ran against Wiley, and defeated him. In 1980, Ronald Reagan's coattails swept Nelson out, and swept in Republican Robert Kasten. In 1988, Sen. Proxmire decided that it was time to retire. In a close race, Milwaukee Bucks owner, Democrat Herb Kohl was elected to Proxmire's seat. Four years later, in 1992, Sen. Kasten ran for a third term. A young State Senator named Russ Feingold beat him by surprise. Now we come to 2010. Early on, Sen. Feingold was a popular incumbent, and the odds-on favorite to win. But, by election day, he had been consistently down in the polls, and he lost to Republican businessman Ron Johnson.
Here is a list of the partisan balance of the United States Senators from Wisconsin from 1947-2011
1947-1957: 2 (R)
1957-1963: 1 (D), 1 (R)
1963-1981: 2 (D)
1981-1993: 1 (D), 1 (R)
1993-2011: 2 (D)
2011- now: 1 (D), 1 (R)
Where is this going, you say? Well, according to a recent PPP poll, all but certain Democratic nominee Rep. Tammy Baldwin was trailing potential rival, former Gov. Tommy Thompson.
A Thompson win, and for that matter, a win by any Republican would mean that for the first time in my father's life, and the lives of many Wisconsinites, our state will have two Republican United States Senators. This can not happen! Wisconsin is not a red state. Wisconsin is not really a blue state. Wisconsin is a lean-D swing state. We need to have at least one Democratic US Senator in Washington all the time.
Wisconsin already has one Republican Senator. We do not need another US Senator that just votes no. We need at least one Senator that will stand up for the 99%.
Tammy Baldwin for US Senate!!!
Thanks to SaoMagnifico for encouraging me to write my first diary on this issue.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin
10:41 PM PT: I think that the result of this race, if Jeff Fitzgerald is the nominee, will partly go along with the Walker Recall, if it happens. If a recall gets on the ballot, and Walker loses, Tammy can tie Fitzgerald to Walker and his extreme agenda. If Walker wins, Tammy loses a talking point.
Also, if Nuemann is the nominee, Tammy can't tie him to Wahsington, because that is where she has bee for the last 13 years.